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If you went shopping for a $250 pair of sandshoes, or a new electronic gizmo, would you go before doing some detective work first?

That, effectively, is what many Australians do, every week, when they buy groceries without any shopping list or thought about the meals they will cook for dinner.

The result is a shocking waste of food – and money.

The latest research shows the average Australian household spends more than $12,000 annually, or about $239 a week, on food and non-alcoholic beverages, making it the biggest regular expense other than housing.

We spend $2488 on fruit and veg, another $2830 on meat and seafood, and $1942 on baked goods alone. But it doesn't have to be this way.

The Foodwise organisation has found we throw away on average more than $1000 worth of food each year, maybe more.

Add in a few cost-cutting measures that take just a little effort and you could be saving up to $2000 a year.

Of course, for families with a limited budget, finding ways to save money, but still eating meals that are healthy and tasty, is more of an imperative.

The golden rules, says Jamie Oliver in the introduction to his new book Save With Jamie, are: Shop Smart, Cook Clever and Waste Less.

"...if you look back through history, the best food in the world has always come from communities under massive financial pressure, but the proviso is that you must be able to cook," he writes in Save With Jamie.

So here are 10 ways to save money and still eat well.

1. Check what you already have

Getting organised before you go grocery shopping will save you money and time.

"Planning is everything. If you plan meals correctly you can save hundreds of dollars a year," Jon Dee, founder of the Foodwise campaign, says.

First, make a quick inventory of the food you already have.

Oz Harvest founder Ronni Kahn believes we should set a challenge and not buy any food until we've used up everything in our kitchens.

"Imagine how much you would save if you didn't buy anything fresh and just ate what was in your freezer, fridge and pantry," she says.

2. Make a list

Rough out a daily meal plan that will last for the next few days, or until you are next likely to shop. Include ingredients you already have and combine them in recipes you feel comfortable with.

Make a list of everything you will need, divided into meat, fruit and veg, and other groceries, so your visit to the supermarket, butcher and other stores can be efficient.

The Foodwise website has launched a planner that lets you enter the ingredients you already have, selects recipes and assembles a shopping list.

3. Shop around

As well as your regular visits to the supermarket, try shopping at other butchers, fruit and veg shops, markets and even wholesale stores that sell in large quantities.

4. Shop by season

The natural expectation when you spend more money on most household items is that the quality will improve.

With food, the opposite can be the case. Buy a $5 punnet of strawberries in winter and they are unlikely to taste anywhere near as good as a $2 punnet bought in summer when they are abundant.

"Seasonal produce will be cheaper to start with so you are spending less money," says ex- MasterChef finalist Callum Hann, who works with Foodwise. "And it will taste better so you are unlikely to leave it to rot in the fridge."

5. Be flexible

The best laid plans also need to allow for flexibility.

"Menu planning is great, but don't let it restrict you," Jamie Oliver writes in Save With Jamie. "Flexi-planning is your best option – it will help you waste less and means you won't get caught out if your plans change. A bit of creativity while you're shopping, combined with some forethought before you set off, is what's going to serve you most well."

6. Storage

Organise your fridge and pantry so older food or leftovers do not get shoved to the back.

Dee recommends using see-through containers that stack on top of each other so it is easy to check what there is.

7. Meat and seafood

Australians spend more on meat and seafood than any other food group. Buying prime cuts of lamb or beef, or fillets of in-demand fish can quickly eat up the weekly food budget.

So be sensible. Look at secondary meat cuts and ask the fishmonger about less pricey varieties of fish. Learn to break down a whole chicken into its separate parts.

In Save With Jamie, Jamie Oliver suggests starting with what he calls a "mothership" recipe such as roast chicken, pork or beef brisket, then create a series of leftover suggestions that stretch the meat further.

8. Portion control

Australians eat too much. It has an impact on our waistlines and on our wallets.

"I regularly see people who are cooking twice as much as they need, especially the amounts of protein and then going to light on the vegies," says nutritionist Susie Burrell.

"If we cut back and serve the amounts of protein we need (100g-150g per serve) and load our plates with more vegies and salad, not only will our weight benefit, but our wallets as well."

So, when writing a shopping list, work out the portions you need and don't buy extra.

Of course, cooking some foods in bulk to leave leftovers for a second or third meal makes sense. But be disciplined when serving it out and set aside the extra portions before dividing the rest.

9. Expiry dates

Use a bit of common-sense rather than automatically throwing away food that has exceeded best-before dates.

"People get very confused between the best-before and use-by dates," says Dee.

"If it is a best-before date, it is just a guide. Except for eggs. Every other food it's a matter of sniffing it, feeling it. If it looks all right, it probably is all right."

10. Grow your own food

You don't need a full-blown vegie patch to save money.

Try planting a few essential herbs – parsley, mint, thyme – in small pots and then snip off a few sprigs as you need them.

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